Georgia Solar Utilities wants to build a large solar farm within the state and has petitioned the Georgia Public Service Commission to sell the electricity directly to customers rather than to Georgia Power or other providers within Georgia.

Georgia Power has challenged Georgia Solar’s request. It argues allowing the Macon-based company to operate as a utility would violate Georgia Power’s standing as a regulated monopoly and would “create barriers to future solar development.”

Attendees at the Savannah International Clean Energy Conference pressed utility company representatives, including Chris Hobson of Georgia Power’s parent company, Southern Company, on the solar issue during sessions Tuesday. Solar is a growing part of the energy-production portfolio, those utility officials countered, and will continue to be so.

Georgia Power recently proposed to acquire 210 megawatts of additional solar capacity over a three-year period, which would give the utility 271 megawatts of solar capacity, enough to power 117,000 homes.

While no direct mention to Georgia Solar Utilities was made, the notion of Georgia as home to a large solar farm was a recurring theme throughout the day. Officials with the German-American Chamber of Commerce pointed to the success of solar energy production in Germany as proof that states like Georgia could benefit from solar initiatives.

Germany’s solar farms produced 22 gigawatts of power on a recent weekend, equivalent to the output of 20 nuclear plants, and have the capacity to produce 28 gigawatts of electricity, or enough to power 12.6 million homes. Solar facilities provide approximately 3 percent of Germany’s power.

Projections are solar will provide 25 percent of the nation’s power by 2050.

“And Germany is farther north than Georgia,” said Dennis McGinn, a retired naval rear admiral and the president of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE). “In terms of latitude, it’s on the same line as Canada. Georgia gets a lot more sun.”

Twice as much sun in terms of generating kilowatt hours, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The solar discussion tracked with a larger conference theme — the need for a “level playing field” for renewable energy initiatives. A government subsidy for wind energy, known as a production tax credit, is to expire at the end of the year. Meanwhile, subsidies for oil and gas, with a value of between $5 billion and $25 billion a year, will continue.

Leveling the playing field, if even for a period as brief as five years, would benefit the renewable energy innovators because of the rapid decline in the cost of renewables. As costs decline, renewables become more competitive with fossil fuels.

“We’re about to have a debate over taxes in this country, and the question is what measuring stick are we going to have for these subsidies?” said Phyllis Cuttino, director of the Pew Clean Energy Program, an advocacy group. “Are we going to continue to have subsidies for technology that is over 100 years old? Are we going to have term-limited subsidies for renewable energy?

“There is a lot at stake.”

Increasing subsidies for renewable energy or eliminating those breaks for fossil fuels aren’t the only field-leveling tools available. Other tax-based incentives are possible, including credits for public-private partnerships.

Another idea, albeit a controversial one, is a carbon tax. Just as cigarette taxes have gradually reduced the number of smokers in the country, a fossil fuel tax would push energy companies to be innovative in formulating their product, ACORE’s McGinn said.

“With a carbon tax, it becomes an issue where, ‘Can we use it? Sure. But there are costs,’” McGinn said. “A carbon tax would start to shift or accelerate the economic shift toward a clean-energy economy.”

ON THE WEB

Put down that hamburger! A climate-change guru says one of the ways to stem the rise in the earth's temperature is to cut back on methane gas. Fewer cattle — and thereby less red meat in your diet — is one path to achieve that. Beefeater Adam Van Brimmer shares more on that topic discussed at the Savannah International Clean Energy Conference on his Daddy Warbucks blog at savannahnow.com/exchange.

ON THE WEB

Go to savannahnow.com to view a slideshow from the Savannah International Clean Energy Conference.

Adam Van Brimmer talks about the climate change discussion at the Savannah International Clean Energy Conference on his Daddy Warbucks blog at savannahnow.com/exchange.

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for
following agreed-upon rules of civility. Posts and
comments do not reflect the views of this site. Posts and comments are
automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some
comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules,
click the "Flag as offensive" link below the comment.

How much landscape will be covered by solar cells and how much government subsidy will be required to match the cost per household that coal powered plants produces?

Just as in green buildings there are unintended consequences that can be anticipated; however, they seem not to be. It would seem prudent to me to develop the technology prior to going "global". The "sky is not falling". The need is to continue development and stop spending so much money and time on the alternatives. The eminent need is not clean energy.

Georgia Solar Utilities will not be subsidized by the government. Besides the limited landscape taken by solar panels, they can be placed on buildings, over parking lots, and other areas that don't have trees or other CO2 absorbing plants.

On the other hand, coal fired plants pollute. Burning coal is a leading cause of smog, acid rain, and air toxics. In just ONE average year, just ONE typical coal plant generates: 3,200,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary greenhouse gas--as much carbon dioxide as cutting down 161 million trees; 10,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), which causes acid rain that damages lungs, forests, lakes, and buildings; 500 tons of other small airborne particles, which can cause chronic bronchitis, aggravate asthma, and cause premature death; 10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx), as much as would be emitted by half a million late-model cars and which leads to formation of ozone (smog) that inflames lungs, burning through lung tissue making people more susceptible to respiratory illness; 720 tons of carbon monoxide (CO), which causes health problems including affecting people with heart disease; 220 tons of hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds (VOC), which form ozone; 170 pounds of mercury, where just 1/70th of a teaspoon deposited on a 25-acre lake can make the fish unsafe to eat; 225 pounds of arsenic, which will cause cancer in one out of 100 people who drink water containing 50 parts per billion; 114 pounds of lead, 4 pounds of cadmium, and other toxic and cancer causing heavy metals including uranium.

For those who are capitalists, or who otherwise believe in free market economics, please note that Georgia Power just wants to keep its monopoly, not a nonprofit monopoly, but one that allows Georgia Power to have its capital expenses, infrastructure, and great profits paid for by customers without the bothersome competition that the gas companies, the phone companies, and all other businesses have to deal with.

Other states have permitted competitive solar power, but the ignorant Georgia voters allow the legislature and the Public Service Commission to be influenced by the Georgia Power monopoly. The "Power" in "Georgia Power" doesn't just refer to electricity as far as the State of Georgia is concerned.